FIRST Heritage Co-operative Credit Union Limited (FHCCU) has merged its operation with the St Thomas Co-operative Credit Union (STCCU).

The partnership, which took effect on March 1, has strengthened the asset base of the FHCCU to some $10 billion and membership of approximately 190,000. St Thomas Credit Union Limited is now the newest unit of the FHCCU, following the merger of the Churches Co-operative Credit Union and the GSBCCU in 2012 to form the First Heritage brand.

The initiative has increased the number of FHCCU branches to 11 across the island and strengthened its hold as the second largest credit union in Jamaica, according to chief executive officer Basil Naar.

“We are confident that this new relationship will have a positive impact on you as you will be able to avail yourself of the offerings of an expanded suite of products and services that are designed to suit every stage of your life,” Naar stated in a public advisory.

He told the Jamaica Observer that FHCCU’s inclination to get involved in entrepreneurial lending and investment in small and micro entrepreneurs led to the merger with the STCCU.

In fact, the FHCCU had planned on starting its own operation in St Thomas, but decided otherwise because of the relations STCCU had with the community, according to Naar.

“We believe that our entrepreneurial arm should start to invest in the farming communities, and the St Thomas Credit Union had done a very good job of investing and lending to the farming community,” he said. “So we decided that we should have a symbiotic relationship and therefore we could incorporate the business of the St Thomas Credit Union instead of going in ourselves to further our forays into micro and small business lending, particularly to the farming sector,” the CEO told the Business Observer.

STCCU, which started operations in 1973, has partnered with the Inter-American Development Bank to offer agricultural loans for the production of onion, ginger, hot pepper and callaloo. The credit union, which is located in Morant Bay, has also partnered with the government of Jamaica, the government of the Netherlands and the European Union over the years.

The latest available annual report of the STCCU website was for 2010, when the credit union reported a net surplus of $17.6 million compared to the $3.9 million it made a year earlier. Total assets as at December 2010 were $838 million up from the $828 million the Credit Union posted in 2009.

Under the merger, STCCU general manager Hopeton Morrison will no longer be employed to the credit union, but he will play a consulting role on issues involving the farming community, the entrepreneurial outlay and various projects.

“He will no longer be involved in the business but he will be on board to assist us in a number of ways because he has vast experience,” Naar stated.

A number of staff from the STCCU will also be affected by the financial institutions’ decision to merge their operations.

“In every merger there is going to be rationalisation of costs and there are going to be positions that are no longer relevant. It’s too soon to quote numbers though, because we are not exactly there,” Naar said.